The Long County Blue Tide basketball teams got huge wins Tuesday, December 20 as they hosted rival Tattnall County in the final home game of 2022. The girls avenged their earlier loss to the Lady Warriors with a 51-44 win, while the boys won 67-65 on a last-second layup.
The Lady Tide got what could be a signature victory over the Warriors. They used an early run to open up a big lead from which they never looked back.
Down 8-5 early, the Tide went on a 9-0 run, boosted by Adryanna Harley’s 3-point shot, to take a 14-8 lead that grew to 18-9 by the end of the quarter.
With star forward Jada Young on the bench in foul trouble, junior Kyleigh Sizemore came in and played tough defense in the middle as the Tide opened the second on a 9-0 run to increase their lead to 25-9.
The Lady Warriors hit back-to-back 3s to cut the Tide’s lead down to 10 points with four minutes left in the half, but the Tide held strong to lead 33-18 at the half.
Harley led with 11 points and the team was 14-of-17 from the free throw line.
Tattnall County finally worked its way back into the game as the Lady Warriors went on a 9-2 run to open the half and get back within 10 points, trailing 35-27 with 1:40 left in the third.
The Tide closed the third on a 5-2 run to go back up 11 going into the fourth.
Midway through the fourth, Amiyah Simpkins hit a layup for a three-point play to push the lead to 46-33. Makinzie Moody connected on her own three-point play as the Tide were up 49-37 with three minutes left.
With the win, the Tide moved to 5-4 on the season. Harley had 16 points and Simpkins had 14 while going 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
The boys had a hot start from beyond the 3- point line, going 3-of-6 in the first quarter and leading 17-13. Roderick Randall hit two of his three attempts as the boys looked to repeat their earlier win over the Warriors.
Randall hit two more 3s in the second quarter as the Tide hit their first two attempts and their last two attempts to lead 33-24 at the half and were 7-of-14 from 3-point range.
The boys cooled down from 3 in the third quarter, hitting just two of their seven attempts. The Warriors went on a 7-0 run to cut the Tide’s lead from 11 to just four with 2:00 left in the third.
Randall finally connected on a 3 again as the buzzer sounded going into the fourth quarter, giving the Tide a 49-40 lead.
The fourth quarter was back and forth, and the Warriors went on a 12-4 run to tie the game at 65-65, getting a three-point play with 25 seconds left.
Head coach Reggie Wilkes called a timeout and drew up an iso layup attempt for Jamel Brimlett, who cut to the basket and scored with 5 seconds left.
The Warriors could not get across half court on their final possession as CamRon Rosa forced a turnover as the Tide held on.
Three players scored in double digits for the Tide as Randall was 5-of-12 from 3 with 18 points. Keshawn Smith had 14 points and eight assists, including the game winner, and Brimlett was 3-of-4 from 3 with 11 points, including the game-winning layup.
The Tide are now 5-4 on the year and both teams will travel to Vidalia on Thursday, December 22. The boys will be on the road next week, participating in a Christmas tournament in Adairsville from December 27-29.